Marines with Echo Battery, Battalion Landing Team,

Marines with Echo Battery, Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, prepare for embassy reinforcement training at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 5, 2018. BLT 1/4 is the Ground Combat Element for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 31st MEU is currently honing its planning capabilities during MEU Exercise, the first step of a pre-deployment training cycle designed to integrate the separate components of the 31st MEU into a cohesive crisis response force. BLT 1/4, from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, is the Ground Combat Element for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Mackenzie Carter/Released)